Cane car and the like



June 17, 1930. w. B. GREGG CANE CAR AND THE LIKE 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed June 29. 1928 III/1171111,,

W 11i 13 4M.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 17, 1930. w. B. GREGG CANE CAR AND THE LIKE Filed June 29, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patent ed June, 17, 1939 rice WILLIAM BURR GREGG, F HACKENSAGK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE GREGG COMPANY, LIMITED, (3F NEV] YGRK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK -CANE CAR AND THE LIKE Application filed June 29,

This invention relates to cane cars, or to cars of similar type which are equipped with removable stakes, and the object thereof is to provide means for detachably locking the stakes to the frame of the car.

The loss of stakes from cars used on sugarplantations to transport the cane, either through their accidental displacement or more often from theft, is a matter of frequent occurrence, and not only at times causes great inconvenience but the replacement thereof is an item of considerable expense. To prevent such loss it has heretofore been proposed to attach the lower endsof the stakes to the frame of the car by chains or hinges, but such means as were adequate to prevent loss or theft had the disadvantage of holding the stakes attached to the car in such manner that they would become entangled with the cane as it was unloaded, especially when unloaded by mechanicalrakes or tilting platforms, and hence their use was soon discontinued. No practical means for preventing the loss of stakes has heretofore been devised.

I have remedied this defect by my present invention, which consists, broadly, in providing means whereby the stakes can be securely locked to the underframe of the cars when empty, by the foreman in charge for example, and on the return from the fields of the loaded cars can be unlocked and entirely detached or released as usual for the unloading of the cane or other cargo.

The invention-is shown, by way of illus; tration and not of limitation, in the accompanying drawings-in which- Figurel is a view, in front elevat1on, of a new releasing stake pocket with looking means and of the lower end of a stake, showing the stake pocket closed. and the stake locked therein; Fig. 2'is a side view of the same, with parts broken away; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the stake pocket and stake, showing the stake pocket unlocked and opened to release the stake; Fig. l is a side elevation of a portion of a car frame equipped with stake pockets and stakes and means for simultaneously locking the stakes within the pockets; Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged vertical sections on the lines 5.5 and 6 G ofFig. 4,

1928. Serial No. 289,184.

respectively; and Figs. .7 and 8 are details showing in front elevation andin vertical section respectively a modification of the 0011 struction shown in Figs. 46.

Referring first to Figs. 1-3 of the drawings, the stake pocket, in its preferred form as here illustrated, comprises a body, and, mounted thereon, a hinged door or front closure and'a hinged latch-bar by which to latch and lock the door. The body member of the stake pocket, a casting, has a back plate 10, with holes 11 for the bolts by which it is attached to the side sill (indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2) of a car, from which project two vertical walls 12 .12 forming the sides of the pocket proper, a bottom pocket wall 13 connecting the lower ends of the side walls, and, above the side walls and extend ing outwardly therefrom on either side, two parallel horizontal walls 14 14 and 15 15 providing at their adjoining spaced edges an eifectiveupward extension of the sides of the pocket. The door or front closure 16, with downward extension 17, is hinged between the walls ld 1 & y P

jecting knuckle 18 through which'passes a pin 19 set in these walls; and onits outer face the door carries a catch for the latchbar which consists of a bottom floor wall 20 with low transverse bearing seat 21 and raised outer or keeper wall 22, and, as means for locking the latch-bar therein, an upper shoulder lug 23 with inclined upper face 2- and a threaded hole 25 in the keeper wall 22, concentric with a semi-circular upward projection thereon, which is surrounded by an outwardly projecting annular rim 26 and into which is threaded a screw lock-bolt 27. The latch-bar 28, hinged between the walls 15 15 upon a pin 29 set therein, is provided with a hole 30 for the pin which is suitably elon gated so as to permit the necessaryvertical movement of its free end and carries on its outer face a projecting upperrim31, of arc uate shape near its free end, which when the latch-bar is dropped into the catch extends out over and so forms a guard for the top of the keeper wall. The stake 32, in this case a steel stake of I-section, has set into one of its outer flanges a bolt or rivet 33 the head of which projects, when the door of the pocket is closed, into a recess 3% formed for the purpose in the back of the downward door extension, and in cooperation withthe upper edge of the recess serves to prevent the removal of the stake from the pocket so long as the door remains closed. The head of a rivet set into the bottom of the pocket serves, in cooperation with one of the rear flanges of the stake, to prevent the top of the stake from tipping inwardly.

The operation of the device, which is obvi ous, is as follows: A stake, set into a pocket, is locked therein by closing the door, swinging the latch-bar around and dropping it into the catch upon the door, and then screwing back the lock-bolt, which because of the annular rim surrounding its head can only be done with a socket wrench, to thereby force the latch-bar back beneath the shoulder of the projecting lug carried by the door; and the stake can be removed from the pocket only after the latch-bar has been unlocked by the withdrawal of the lock-bolt which also requires the use of a socket wrench.

As illustrated in Figs. 1-6, each of the stake pockets a1, attached to the side sill l0 of the car, provides two outwardly projecting side walls 42 {i2 and at the bottom a shallow pocket 43. A locking-bar 44- with loop offsets 45 45 at each stake pocket is mounted to rock in U-bolts 46 46 secured to the side sill of the car. This locking-bar is carried at one end through the flange of a corner stake 47 and is there bent to provide a leverarm 48 with a headed horizontal end 49, and upon such end is mounted a latch-hook 50 which is adapted to pass through a slot 51 in the web of the corner stake and drop over the lower end of the slot and which is locked within the slot by means of a padlock 52 inserted in, a hole provided therein for the purpose. The stakes 53 53, which as shown are of wood and have each a headed bolt 54 secured in its lower end, are set into the pockets behind the locking-bar when the loop offsets a re rocked outwardly, and the locking-bar is then rocked back to locking position, in which the offsets press back against the outer faces of the stakes above the bolt heads, and is in turn locked in such position by attaching the padlock to the latch-hook. The stakes can only be released from the pockets, as is obvious, after unlocking and removing the padlock, raising the hook and rocking the locking-bar outwardly.

In the modification illustrated in 7 and 8, a shallow stake pocket 43 is secured to the lower side of the side sill of the undertrame, and the locking-bar 44 is mounted in eye-b0lts 4'6, set into the side sill, which have extended shanks 46" serving as supporting sides for the stake 53 somewhat above the pocket.

It is obvious that the cooperative locking means carried by the stake and stake pocket respectively can be located on any side of the stake and that the position of these parts may be reversed, if desired, the head or projection being associated with the pocket or even with the underframe of the car and the cooperating hole or depression with the stake. The invention may be otherwise modified in its'several details, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the substantial advantages thereof.

lVhat 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cane car or the like, the combination of a stake, a releasing stake pocket having a hinged front closure and means including a screw lock bolt set in a threaded opening surrounded by an outwardly projecting annular rim for locking the same in closed position, and means carried by the stake and effective to prevent the removal of the stake from the stake pocket when the front thereof is closed.

2. As a new article of n'lai'lu'facture, a releasing stake pocket having a hinged 'front closure and means for locking the same in closed position, said locking means including a latch-bar, a catch therefor having at its back a shoulder lug and operatively related to the catch a locking member whereby the latch-bar when within the catch can be forced beneath said shoulder lug and locked thereunder.

As a new article of manufacture, a releasing stake pocket comprising back, side and bottom pocket walls, a front closure hinged at one side of the pocket and carrying on its outer face a catch provided with a shouldered recess, and a latch-bar hinged on the opposite side of the pocket and adapted to swing behind the hinged closure and drop into the catch, and means for locking the latch-bar within the shouldered recess of the catch. I

4-. As a new article. of manufacture, a releasing stake pocket comprising back, side and bottom pocket walls, a front closure hinged at one side of the pocket, at latch-bar hinged at the opposite side of the pocket and adapted to bear against the outer face of the front closure when the latter is in closed position, and means carried by the front closure and including a shouldered recess and a screw lock bolt for there looking the latch-bar.

VILLIAM BUR-R GREGG. 

